The subject invention relates to a faced insulation assembly, and, in particular, to a faced insulation assembly wherein a facing adhered to an insulation layer includes lateral tabs with tab strips overlaying and bonded to one surface of the lateral tabs. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the tabs strips are bonded to the tabs by a pressure sensitive adhesive whereby: the lateral tabs may be left in the folded position and the blanket press fitted between the framing members; the lateral tabs may be unfolded and stapled to the framing members with the tab strips left on the tabs to increase the integrity of the tabs; or one or both of the lateral tabs may be unfolded, the tab strips removed, and the tabs bonded to the framing members.
Faced insulation assemblies, such as but not limited to faced blankets of glass fiber building insulation in board, roll, or batt form, are typically installed between and secured to framing members (e.g. studs and joists) located in the walls, ceilings, and floors of buildings. Currently, these faced blankets have longitudinally extending lateral tabs that may be secured to the studs by stapling. However, it has been proposed to provide these faced blankets with lateral tabs that are coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive so that these faced blankets may be secured to the framing members of a building by pressing the pressure-sensitive adhesive coated surfaces of the tabs against the faces of the framing members. The following patents disclose faced blankets that have longitudinally extending lateral tabs with pressure-sensitive adhesive coated surfaces for securing the faced blankets in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,913,104, issued to Konrad Parker on Nov. 17, 1959, discloses a fully enclosed insulation batt 14 with lateral tabs 12 having surfaces coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive. The lateral tabs 12 are adhered to the faced sides of the insulation batt during shipment and storage and may be pressed against the faces of framing members to secure the insulation batt in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,306, issued to Robert E. Oliver on Mar. 7, 1967, discloses an insulation blanket faced on one major surface. The facing has an edge portion on one side, inward of the edge of the blanket, which is coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive and covered with a release liner. The facing also has a tab on the opposite side, extending outward from the blanket, that is coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive and covered with a release liner. The release liners can be removed from the edge portion of the facing on one blanket and the tab on the facing of another blanket. The tab can then be adhered to the edge portion of the adjacent blanket to adhere the blankets together.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,879, issued to Andrew T. Franklin on May 1, 1973, discloses an encapsulated insulation blanket with lateral tabs that extend outward beyond the edges of the encapsulated insulation blanket. The tabs have surfaces coated with pressure-sensitive adhesive to secure the insulation blanket to framing members. The pressure-sensitive adhesive coated surfaces of the tabs are covered with release strips that are removed to adhere the tabs to framing members.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,523, issued to Thomas B. Broderick et al on Dec. 1, 1987, discloses a faced insulation assembly batt with one or two double-thickness lateral facing flanges that have a surface coated with pressure-sensitive adhesive. The double-thickness facing flanges, e.g. the double-thickness facing flanges 10a and 10b of FIGS. 2 to 6, are formed by folding the lateral edge portions of the facing inwardly through 180° and bonding the lateral edge portions to the inside of the facing sheet. A pressure-sensitive adhesive 14 is applied to one surface of each flange and each flange is folded inwardly through 180° and placed in contact with a release strip 16 that is adhered to the inside surface of the facing sheet. In use, the double-thickness flanges are unfolded to expose the pressure-sensitive adhesive, leaving the release strips adhered to the inside surface of the facing sheet, and the faced insulation assembly batt is installed.
Thus, there has remained a need for a faced building insulation, such as the faced insulation assembly of the subject invention, wherein the facing includes lateral tabs that are folded back onto the facing for packaging and handling to prevent the tabs from being damaged and wherein the lateral tabs have tab strips that can be left on the tabs to provide the tabs with greater integrity for stapling so that facing can be made of thinner or less expensive sheet materials. In addition, there has remained a need for a faced building insulation such as the faced insulation assembly of the subject invention wherein the tab strips are bonded to the lateral tabs by a pressure sensitive adhesive. With this structure, when the faced insulation assembly, e.g. a faced resilient glass fiber insulation blanket, of the subject invention is installed between two framing members: the lateral tabs may be left in the folded position and the blanket press fitted between the framing members; the lateral tabs may be unfolded and stapled to the framing members with the tab strips left on the tabs to increase the integrity of the tabs; or one or both of the lateral tabs may be unfolded, the tab strips removed, and the tabs bonded to the framing members thereby giving the installing technician a variety of choices for installing the faced insulation assembly in a manner to best suit the application.